Moola!

Yes, we are going to talk about monies.

money

We are all aware of today's economy and the fact that people are struggling to make ends meet, and yet B and I are planning a wedding? I don't like discussing money with my mom because she uses terms like, "We need to save our money." She uses this line when we are talking about her and dad's finances and she says "we" as in all the members of our family so "we" can afford to do repairs to her and dad's house. I just ignore her "we" and assume she means "she." Because lets face it people, I don't have enough money to save for a new roof on her farm house. (Plus, I have so many beautiful pieces of clothing I need to buy to fill my closet.)

But I can't complain too much about the terminology they use because my parents are great! They paid for most of my sister's wedding and her wedding dress. But this happened in 2000 when the economy was good and my parent's weren't retired. You see, I am the youngest of 4 children and my oldest brother is 11.5 years older than I, so my parents are older than most (if not all) of my friends' parents. They were able to do my sisters wedding for around $5,000 and my sister's dress was on clearance in a department store that was being bought out by Dillards in 1998. This past summer my mom told me she would contribute $200 towards my dress and $5000 towards the wedding since this is what they did for my sister.

This had me worried a little bit but B was thrilled. He was like, "yes, the whole thing shouldn't cost more than that." HA! A wedding for under $5000? That's crazy talk. B knows nothing of planning a wedding and the costs associated with them. I on the other hand had a better idea of what we were working with. I knew I was going to have to find ways of keeping the wedding beautiful while keeping the cost down. Especially since I am a graduate student on a stipend and B is a substitute teacher when needed.

Lucky for me, I am pretty crafty. I don't know why, but I never thought of outsourcing some of the wedding details to different companies, for instance, the wedding invitations. However, I did think we were going to have the reception catered and mom and dad's money would be spent there. (The food discussion will come at a later date.)

I began scouring the internet for inspiration and Do-It-Yourself project that would fit in with my vision of the wedding. My go-to stops were, MarthStewart.com, The Knot DIY Board, and the DIY board on the Weddingbee. I saw some of the most awesome ideas out there. Here are some of the neat ideas I saw:

Pompom

Hair Flower

Tissue Paper flowers

Napkins

 

Invitation

Paper Rose

My next stop was to buy the materials and try some of these DIY tutorials out. If they worked out well and seemed to be done easily and cheaper than purchasing them, then I'd do it.

First Up, flowers...

How did you decide what you were going to DIY for your wedding?